Tag Archives: Whole Foods

Alright so this Saturday my girlfriend and I decided to bake up some glorious Fair Trade pumpkin bread. Now before we get started, there is no such thing as Fair Trade pumpkins. But a good number of general baking ingredients are made under Fair Trade standards. We found all of our Fair Trade ingredients at the local Whole Foods store. This recipe makes about two large loaves.

Ingredients

3 cups white Fair Trade sugar*

1 15 oz. can of pumpkin puree

4 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp. Fair Trade vanilla extract*

3.5 cups of all purpose flour

2/3 cup water

1 tsp. baking soda

1 9 oz. bag of Fair Trade chocolate chips*

2 tsp. ground Fair Trade cinnamon*

1 tsp. Fair Trade nutmeg*

1 tsp. salt

* =Fair Trade

Step 1

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees, and grease two large bread pans.

Step 2

In a large bowl, mix sugar, pumpkin, oil, water, and eggs together. Then add in everything else except the chocolate chips. Beat until smooth. Then fold in chocolate chips.

Step 3

Pour mix evenly into the two greased pans. Put the pans in the oven for 1 hour, and enjoy a few of your favorite pumpkin beers while you wait.

Step 4

Make sure the loaves are cooked all of the way through. If they are not done cooking just put them back in the oven for five or ten minutes. When you know they are done cooking, leave them in the pan to cool for a while before touching them.

If you did everything right they should look like this! Hope you enjoy this easy Fair Trade recipe.

Most people that follow the Fair Trade movement know that Hershey’s chocolate has been accused of using child slave labor for a long time now. Many petitions have been aimed towards trying to change this. Recently Hershey’s has made a new brand of chocolate, trying to appeal towards their ethically minded buyers, that wears the Rainforest Alliance symbol called Dagoba. Many thought that Hershey’s was taking a step in the right direction, until it was discovered that even this more ethical version of their chocolate bar, along with another Hershey’s side brand named Scharffenberger, was using child slave labor.

As a response many markets and buyers of Dagoba and Scharffenberger boycotted the products and have signed petitions trying to change this. When Whole Foods was offered a spot on the list to petition Hershey’s crimes many were shocked when they withheld their support. Whole Foods is a large advocate for the Fair Trade movement, even having their certification labels call Whole Trade. Fair Trade fans are now asking where Whole Foods loyalties lie, with ethically minded consumers and poorly treated workers around the world, or big companies who use slave labor?

No one can disregard everything Whole Foods has done so far to benefit Fair Trade, but it makes one wonder if they honestly believe in these ethical practices, or if they see them as a convenient vehicle for more sales.

This coming Friday (August 3, 2012) the Whole Foods Market in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, will be selling Whole Trade Roses for $5 a dozen. All Whole Trade farmers use environmentally friendly methods to grow their roses, and farmers are paid fairly for their work and treated equally. For more information about the producers working with Whole Foods, click here. To stay in the loop with the Whole Foods Market in Glen Mills, check out their Facebook page!